Earthlings is a docudrama drawing attention to vile, uncivilised behaviour in which we all play a role. It focuses on the torture of animals which modern society condones and from which we distance ourselves, covering five aspects: pets, food, clothing, entertainment, science.

Be warned. It is graphic. You might have a pet which you rescued, you might eat only organic produce, you might avoid leather and fur, you might not go to the races and you might not wear make-up, but the atrocities shown in the film still go on today, in your community and are endorsed by governments, leaders and “everyone”.

The point is: Just say NO. Humanity can not survive if it does not extend the rationale of justice to nature. That means treating animals with care, even if you are going to eat them, though plainly that in itself is far from necessary. In fact, a simple fix for climate change is veganism/vegetarianism because the livestock industry in the number one cause of greenhouse gases and a major contributor to biodiversity loss and environmental contamination. (See “The Facts” about sustainability, the environment and your future.)

I watched the movie last night (mostly with my eyes closed) because Ellen said “Food Inc is “Disney compared to Earthlings”. She wasn’t kidding.

I used to make fun of vegetarians and tofu. One day I realised I didn’t like killing animals. (Duh!) So I stopped killing them and became vegetarian. That was nearly two decades ago. I’m still alive, a little overweight in fact. And now it is science that a plant based diet is healthier and the meat industry is killing the planet. It should be that we can eat a bit of meat, but the impact on the biosphere of a meat focused food industry has become so violent, that a simple avoidance policy is really the only option.

You don’t have to watch Earthlings, but humankind must slow down and drastically reduce its consumption of the biosphere (our habitat which we need for life) and that includes consuming fewer animals.